Inspection and monitoring of pipes is essential for a range of systems. For example, Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) pod boilers are largely uninspected, but new life extension plans require an increased knowledge of the internal conditions of the boiler pipes. One proposed method for acquiring this knowledge is to deploy fibre optic cables into redundant pipes to act as inspection and monitoring tools. However, the pipe geometry can be complex and internal conditions can be poorly defined, presenting numerous problems for cable deployment.
Water flooding and air jetting can be used to facilitate cable deployment. Nonetheless deployment of cables into helical pipes can be problematic due to the capstan effect. Essentially, as the cable is pushed through the turns of a helical pipe it experiences an exponential build up in frictional resistance which can rapidly prevent further cable deployment.